Outgoing Biden DOJ Sues Red County For Not Electing Enough Black Politicians

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued a conservative Tennessee county Wednesday over claims that it does not have enough black county commissioners just five days before President Joe Biden’s term ends.

The DOJ’s lawsuit claims Fayette County’s 2021 redistricting plan weakens black residents’ representation and denies them the “equal opportunity” to “elect their candidates of choice” to the Board of County Commissioners. The case is the latest measure in a series last-ditch efforts by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to target local GOP-led government bodies for alleged racial discrimination.

The allegations come one week after the Civil Rights Division sued the GOP-led Hazleton, Pennsylvania City Council because it lacked what the DOJ called “Hispanic-preferred candidates.” Both suits cite Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bans restricting voting based on race.

Most of Fayette County’s commissioners are Republican, according to a review of election records. The county voted for President-elect Donald Trump, who returns to office Monday, by 67% in 2016, 68% in 2020 and 70% in 2024.

The county’s 2021 electoral maps did not include any “majority Black voting-age population (‘BVAP’) districts,” and no black candidate has since sat on the 19-member board of commissioners, the DOJ alleged. The lawsuit said commissioners designed the maps “for a discriminatory purpose” and “successfully diminished Black political power.”

Fayette County Attorney Rick Rosser did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Black voters in Fayette County are politically cohesive and have regularly voted for the same candidates in contests for the County Commission and for other offices in the past decade,” the lawsuit said. The DOJ’s Hazletonlawsuit contains a similar line about “politically cohesive” Hispanic voters.

Fayette County commissioners have put “Black populations into large rural districts where they had no hope of representation” for over a decade, the DOJ claimed.

Attorneys highlighted District 3 as an example, saying its black voting-age population dropped by about 22 percent from 2001 to 2021. District 3’s two commissioners are Elizabeth Rice, a Republican, and Ed Allen, whom the board appointed to replace another Republican who vacated his spot.

Rice and Allen did not respond to immediately requests for comment about claims that their district’s elections are unfair.

The DOJ requests a court order requiring new electoral maps that comply with the Biden administration’s reading of the Voting Rights Act.

“Black voters should have the equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice, but the redistricting map adopted by Fayette County did not provide that opportunity,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who leads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, in a press release.

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